Cono Sur at Fizz

When you are VERY successful, when you have the highest-selling red wine in the UK and a range of awards in your award cabinet (we all have one, don’t we?), do you rest on your laurels? Do you sit back and admire your success? No, you don’t because the a) there’s someone right behind you, keen to take the top slot and b) Why would you? There are always new things to do so why not do them?

Thus it was that I met the team from Cono Sur at Fizz, the Sparkling Wine show last October. Cono Sur Bicicleta is the most successful range of red wines in the country and Cono Sur have gained a reputation of drinkable, good quality wines, both from Bicicleta and from their other ranges, including and perhaps especially Reserva Especial and Silencio. So now, the front-runner in red is launching sparkling wines: a single Brut and a Rosé – no fancy marketing, no grand story, no alternate versions, just those two wines made to be easy and pleasant to drink. This is what sets Cono Sur apart – clarity, simplicity and an adherence to their vision of “No family trees, no dusty bottles, just quality wine” and uncluttered labeling. It’s a formula that works. In fact, their policy of simplicity and clarity run through everything they do so, when I spoke with them at the show, the interview was remarkably short – to the point, comprehensive and, yes, clear: